right now, the obama administration. a little more fuel. and we are talking about two men now. it comes down to these two guys and a lot of jobs on the line. possible hiring freezes, furloughs if we go over the cliff. federal agencies now working on reports for the white house, of the cuts they will make if we do actually go over the cliff. a diner, middle-class taxpayers and the vice president, telling republicans a deal to extend tax cuts for all but the wealthy is easy. >> the president would probably have me sprint up to the hill to bring the bill down for him to sign. it can be done like that. >> reporter: not really. even though the two sides are talking, they aren't making much progress. remember that phone call between the president and the speaker a couple days ago? >> the phone call was pleasant. but it was just more of the same. >> reporter: and that's the problem. it is now down to these two men, deal or no deal. the republican speaker and the president. with an election win at his back, the white house says the president won't budge on two points -- higher tax rates f

inartfully. the obama administration vacillated back and forth on what the policy was on whether to get rid of mubarak. even behind the scenes i don't think we've applied sufficient pressure on the military. the key leverage we have that the administration has is the threat to withhold funding. i must say if they don't get the message in the military from that, congress, when it comes back into session after the first of the year, i think is going to take a very close look at that. if the military wants to continue american assistance they should listen to the administration. that is to say if the administration is talking to them and not supporting morsi for his role in things like the hamas-israel cease-fire which was announced the day before morsi announced his decree. >> they did that the day after sitting down with with secretary of state hillary clinton. >> he clearly, morsi clearly felt emboldened to take that step. what president obama in six telephone conversation with president morsi before the cease-fire, as you said secretary of state there in egypt. whether there was a wink

there suggesting the obama administration -- how can you repeat this stuff -- is in cahoots with the muslim brotherhood. this is malarkey. malarkey is a good word. love me. ...but most dry foods add plant protein, like gluten iams never adds gluten. iams adds 50% more animal protein, [ dog 2 ] look at me! i'm a lean, mean flying machine [ dog 1 ] i am too! woo hoo! [ male announcer ] iams. with 50% more animal protein. [ dog 2 ] i'm an iams dog for life. not a rabbit. woof! i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. often comes with a set of equally impressive instructions ? shouldn't something that's truly advanced, not need much explanation at all ? with the nokia lumia 822 on verizon, there's not much to learn because it's powered by windows... to let you do more than you ever imagined on your smartphone. exclusively with data se

business, big driver of employment. now the truth of the matter is obama administration said well, almost every small business in the country would fall below that. they are not rich people and it doesn't count. that universe of the small businesses that the white house is talking about includes the smallest internet vendor. the truth is that number of businesses that pay at the higher rate are all the ones of any size. that would do any hiring. this would really get at the republican objection. it would be interesting to see if the white house is trogg agree to that. >> bret: political curveball. >> thanks. >> bret: new rule for some taxpayer funded government workers about tweeting and what you and your neighbors really think about the federal employees. grapevine is next. >> bret: now some fresh pickings from the political "grey's anatomy." americans think public workers are better paid and more secure. and it turns out they're spot on. rasmussen report poll found that nearly two-third of private sector workers across the ideological spectrum believe that. and investors business daily

the obama administration. and we saw all the data on wall street, the pendulum swinging away from barack obama towards mitt romney, how much of it is genuine self-interest in the sense of, just something as simple as the amount of taxes they will pay? >> i would say all of it. i really would. i would say all of it. the banks have two choices. four years ago, they had the choice between barack obama and they knew exactly who he was going to appoint in terms of ben bernanke and timothy geithner, the combination of the team that had saved the world from utter financial collapse. and that's what they knew they needed. and john mccain, on the other hand, was running around like a headless chicken, and they were scared, they were petrified he would become president, especially with his vice presidential candidate. so they voted in their self-interest, because they knew that the system needed to be saved. now that the system is saved is, they just want to pay less taxes. >> that gets to this question of narrow self-interest versus broad self-interest. in the case of adelson, this is real

until the obama administration showed weakness on that point last year in unesco. that vote that admitted the palestinian authority as a member state foreshadowed what happened last week. it was entirely avoidable. the loss brought on by the united states weakness. >> eric: a group of bipartisan senators, or saying just that. they are threatening to cut off the palestinian funding. $500 million because of this. from your view, susan rice and the obama administration did what? >> guest: well, i think they gave up the most potent weapon that the united states has. the financial weapon. in almost any case that matters to us in the general assembly, we're going to be out-voted unless we're prepared to use the financial weapon. that runs contrary to every multilateralist instinct of the obama white house. they paid a price for it. israel paid a price for it, too. >> eric: why is it seemingly one-sided? i remember when you voted against the human rights council. nine votes against it. us. canada, czech republic, israel, marshall islands, macronesia, palau and nairu. they seem to be the

. >> in the last 90 days, obama administration proposed 6,000 new regulations to impact everything from the private property to your religious freedom. it comes from the environmental protection agency. today, the epa role from the logging trails in oregon was front and center at the supreme court. where logging industry representatives argue that overregulation could cost them millions. >> loss of jobs with a million people employed by the industry. >> environmentalists argue epa has role for protecting u.s. waterways and should be doing more. >> epa and state regulators weren't willing to take on the practice, we stepped in to challenge it and try to bring it under the law. >> epa is one of dozens of federal entities that issues regulation and rules each day. measures that often go in to effect before those who will be impacted even know they are under consideration. that is something the regulatory flexibility act was designed to prevent. it requires the current administration to issue reports in both april and october, identifying the proposed rules likely to have significant e

actually an opportunity to get at what the nature of the obama administration foreign policy is, paul. and susan rice in some ways encapsulates a strain in democratic policy thinking that goes way back, a story that's actually told by samantha power, a close aide to president obama and wrote about genocide in with a randa. and susan rice is state department that makes a cameo appearance in the book, quoted asking, if we call what happened in rwanda genocide, how does it play for us in what were then the mid term elections of 1994. well, there's a pattern here as we see. one is a reluctance to have america be engaged in certain issues, and the second one is politicizing foreign policy issues because they might hurt the president's political stance. >> paul: and you want a secretary of state, if you're-- well, the american people want a secretary of state who is some more independent judgment and not thinking so much about the politics, is that the point? >> that would be one thing that you would look for in the secretary of state. >> paul: sorry for stating the obvious. >> the national inte

here after the obama administration is ready to go over the fiscal cliff if the gop doesn't bid on higher taxes. a poll shows nearly half of those ads say it's time to end talks cuts for the wealthy but keep it in place for americans earning $250,000 or less. 32% say the tax cuts should remain in place for everyone. during a broadcast interview yesterday timothy geithner was asked what if republican don't agree to raising taxes? >> is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> oh, absolutely. there's no prospect of an agreement that doesn't involve the tax -- remember, it's 207b8%. remember, all of those americans, too, get a tax cut into that framework on the first $250,000 of their income. >> that said the president and speaker john boehner discussed the budget by phone yesterday. susan mcginnis is in washington with the latest on this game of fiscal chicken. susan, good morning to you. >> right. good morning, terrell. yeah, that phone call does raise the possibility that some serious talks could start soon, but now we learn that a lot of members of congress are

generation al issue and the obama administration is going to have to gibe at some point on its theory of law. i think a couple days the u.s. attorney in washington said the federal law trumps what you guys are going. people are going to say no, enough. and the obama administration just started ramping up prosecutions of this. this is unusual for me. >> yeah. do you agree, goldie? >> i do, except heroin is making a comeback and that's really unfortunate. but do i think the legalization of marijuana will increase its usage, i don't. people who want to partake, are already partaking. so i think that we ought to just remove the gloves, let people do what they want to do in the privacy of their own homes. free up our police to direct their things to things that are much more important. these people aren't going to get in the car and drive. hell, they can't even kind their far keys after a good joint. so the issue really is about criminalizing things and making a pathway for our young boys, chiefly boys, from the high school straight to prison. that pipeline is as straight as it's ever been

up getting it, it's something the obama administration told john boehner they were willing to trade away if republicans end up getting it, that will feel like a big win for them. enough to unlock the tax deal. i'm not saying the final negotiation here will be easy. one thing that's a tough sticking point in negotiations. we began tonight which the white house wants to get rid of forever. there's not been a lot of republican movement on the forever deal. i'm not saying the final negotiation here will be easy. one thing that's a tough sticking point in negotiations. we began tonight which the white house wants to get rid of forever. there's not been a lot of republican movement on the forever deal. i'm not saying they are not going to get to a deal before the deadline, but don't be fooled by the posturing. there is a sailboat. it's coming clearer. joining us is the former budget director for the obama administration. vice chairman at citigroup, a veteran of these negotiations, thank you for being here on a friday night. >> good to be with you. >> peter, you have been in a lot of these

weapons in the 1990s, but it was a big deal and a surprising thing when the obama administration got belarus to give up their highly enriched uranium too. their stockpile of the material was taken away and secured by the united states. the guy in kazakhstan, the guy who named a national holiday in his own honor, he agreed to give up a portion of his country's highly-enriched uranium and all the risk that goes with it. it's remarkable that coup tries that used to be part of a soviet union, these countries agreed to give up their nuclear weapons and that they also agreed to give up material used to make nuclear weapons. so while there are a lot of things to worry about with belarus, we can worry a little less about their stockpile because they let us lock some of it up. american policy that makes this a priority is now more than 20 years old. it goes back to 1992. it's the cooperative threat reduction program. it's named after the senator sam nun and richard lugar. this is one of the things that our government does. you may remember me wearing a funny outfit when we traveled to mexico

contributors have gotten ambassadorships for years. neil: on both sides. >> obama administration has put more political ambassadors in than prior republican administraons. now is that good or bad? it is good. the political ambassadors have a direct connection with the president, in countries where they are acredited, if they say, this is at the president wants that is believable. and their loyalty is to the president not state department. and they care a lot in my experience about making sure that president's policies are carriee out. and third, and look -- >> would see? >> no anna wintour from a cord of wood, but i do know she knows something about business,. neil: you support this? >> i don'tnow her. >> i think if it was france it would be perfect. with the style. i don't see a problem. >> i don't but i think that in advocating american business against european ambassadors who spend a consider an poke of theiportion their time on it cod someone in business themselves can be effective. neil: no doubt. we were talking about. joe kennedy, -- john kennedy's father got the ambassadorsh

an online platform for citizens to petition the obama administration to take action on issues that they find very important to themselves. the the site makes civic engagement easy and has sparked some interesting causes. and its policy of issuing a response if a petition gathering 25,000 signatures in 30 days has caught the attention of the internet trolls. it was the forum used by over 100,000 texans to secede from the united states, which resulted in another petition in -- to withdraw. anything can happen. you can see where this is going. but there's one petition on the site that we here at "the ed show" can certainly get behind. it's a substantial stimulus project that would create millions of jobs, boost america's steel industry, got to love that, expand our space program, and basically guarantee our national security. what could be better? someone has petitioned the administration to build a death star. the fictional moon-size space base capable of destroying entire planets from "star wars." just under 2,000 people have signed the petition to ask president obama to secure the

when the obama administration says they're willing to go off the cliff if a deal is not reached on rates? >> i don't think it's a bluff. if you look at the reality of what happens, all the leverage which i -- right now clearly the white house has. they get more leverage if we go over their cliff. you can argue that would not send a good message to the country, to the world. it would prove that we are dysfunctional and cannot govern, et cetera, et cetera. in terms of dealing with the policy problem, which is you have this massive and growing debt, you have to bring in more revenues. there's multiple ways to do it, but critical ways to raise rates on the top end. it was what the election was about. republicans want to play the game where they think they get something. at the end of the day they lose worse if we go over the cliff. >> that's an interesting insight because you have alan simpson on the "today" show asked dp one side is a winner or loser off the cliff. here's what he had to say, chris. >> when you have leaders from the administration saying i think it's to the advantage o

challenge. >> we understand the obama administration is now considering arming the syrian rebels, something you've advocated for a long time. obviously in reaction to concerns the administration won't have any sway with the rebels should the assad regime fall. arwa damon has been inside syria for more than about a week now. she's been talking to rebels who say they're angry at the international community for its inaction and won't tolerate meddling now. do you think there's anything at this point the u.s., its allies can do to try to repair that relationship? >> i think we could establish a safe zone from which they could organize and operate. the other problem, as you know, is the dramatic infiltration over the last year or so of these jihadists, al qaeda jihadist extremists from all over the arab world. you name a country and they've come in from there. and unfortunately, some of the countries that are providing the weapons, those have gone directly to these extremists. rather than to the moderate forces. and without a place to organize, to set up a government to do the things

act the obama administration has warned could trigger military intervention. worst-case scenarios are threatening to become reality. >> it's not going to be a clean outcome in the best of circumstances, and now it will be chaotic and messing. >> reporter: the u.s. is helping to organize the opposition's military command, and later this week is expected to officially recognize its political leadership. what impact that has on the outcome of the civil war remains to be seen. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. >>> in egypt, opponents of president mohamed morsi are calling for another massive protest tomorrow. thousands of demonstrators took to the streets sunday. they're demanding morsi can sell the december 15th vote to the draft resolution. they're also rejecting last month's decree which pretty much makes morsi a dictator. >>> south africans are ancient ul anxiously awaiting word. the 94-year-old anti-partied icon has been in the hospital since saturday and officials refuse to say anything about his ailment on what tests he's ung going. mark phillips reports. >> reporter: when a ma

. >> shannon: who will blink first? the obama administration says the ball is in the g.o.p.'s court. republicans insist it's the president's turn to get serious about dealing with our country's debt. >> it's unfortunate that the white house spent three weeks doing basically nothing. >> this is a very carefully designed set of reforms. if republicans would like to go beyond these reforms, or they want to do it differently, they should tell us how they want to do it. >> i believe raising tax rates hurts our economy, hurts the prospects for more jobs in our country. >> shannon: as the sparring continues over the fiscal cliff, neither boehner nor geithner can say for certain that the country will not go over the edge. i'm shannon bream. america's news headquarters live from the nation's capital starts right now. >> shannon: we want to get to the budget standoff. peter doocy joins us live. there is time to strike a deal but not a lot. >> reporter: that's right. the speaker of the house john boehner made a point today to say there is not much time between election day and the end of the y

and colorado may prove to be short lived. the obama administration is signaling it may step in and actively enforce federal drug laws which still outlaw smoking marijuana. and that could create very tricky political balancing act for president obama himself. john avlon is "outfront" on this story right now. this is a tightrope for the president, john. >> it is. it's fascinating. a brand new quinnipiac poll illustrates what a tough situation this is. for the first time, a narrow majority of americans, 51%, support legalizing marijuana. but here's where it gets politically interesting. when you break it down by party i.d., 58% of democrats and independents support legalizing marijuana. clear majority. only 31% of republicans do, however. so it's a fascinating shift where liberals and independents are saying, look. states rights at least on this issue. more individual liberty. and republicans are being more traditionalist about their attitudes. final point, this poll makes very clear it's a generational shift. just a second ago you were talking about the evolution of this issue of sam

there's benign neglect in the second term of the obama administration in my view this will get out of hand. i am concerned about it. i think we're not there yet. but if there's four years of neglect, then each side takes unilateral steps. then we're in a very different place. therefore, that's why it's very important to get these parties to the table right now. >> suarez: quick final comment from ghaith. do palestinians still believe that the two-state solution is on the table? >> absolutely. public opinion over and over again believes that the two-state solution is do-able, is preferrable. they do not believe that it's realized in the foreseeable future. if the public starts losing faith in the viability of the two-state solution it will be abandoned. >> suarez: ghaith and david, good to talk to you both. >> thank you. >> brown: now, how to increase student performance in america's secondary schools. federal education officials announced today that five states will participate in an experiment to make students spend more time in school. meanwhile, many states are already implementing

about 23,000 signatures before the obama administration is actually expected to issue a response. we want a response. but i'm guessing with the way the fiscal cliff negotiations are going the estimated $852 quadrillion dollars of funding needed for one alone just isn't in the cards. dog gone it. i'm going to sign up tonight. >>> can both parties reach an agreement ones fiscal cliff? 40% of you say yes, 60% say no. >>> coming up, this could be one of the dumbest votes the republicans have ever cast in the history of the senate. we'll talk about the big win and the emotional reaction from moderates. that's next. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ and the next great idea could be yours. customer erin swenson bought so, i'm happy. today. sales go up

course, has the full attention of the obama administration. >> our concerns are that an increasingly desperate assad regime might turn to chemical weapons or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within syria. >> syrian ground forces and rebels have been battling in and around syrian capital of damascus. it is now estimated that more than 40,000 people have been killed in violence in march 2011. >> just an atrocity there. >>> now to the pink slips at citigroup. the company is slashing 11,000 jobs worldwide. about 4% of its work force. more than half of those cuts will come from consumer banking. and they are aimed at saving $900 billion next year alone. investors were apparently pleased. because citi stocks shot up more than 6%. >>> and the world's biggest coffee chain is about to get even bigger. starbuck's is planning to add 1,500 cafes across the country over the next five years and another 1,500 in canada and latin america. the company has big expansion plans in china. there are currently more than 18,000 starbuck's around the globe. they're

served in the military. brewer who has battled the obama administration over her state's immigration policies insists she's obeying laws. >> the state is the one that licenses the people to be able to drive on the streets. it's not the federal government. i'm not surprised i'm being sued, but that's the law and i'm going to obey my oath of office. >> it is worth noting that according to the arizona republic, the state already grants licenses to noncitizens with work permits. brewer seems to be singling out those who have received their permits through the department of homeland security's executive action. translation, jan brewer is picking a fight with president obama. michael steele, i have to go to you first on this. >> okay. sure, why not. >> i'm sorry, my friend. you have spoken at length and substantively about the problem that the gop has, not only with minorities but specifically with latinos. here we have a governor, we know the gop has been tripped up by actions at the state level, seems to be happening again with brewer. why is she pursuing this now. >> i don't know. it's

now. it's good to see you. >> good to see you. >> 22 cabinets currently in the obama administration, eight are female. 36%. we know that there will be a shakeup as there always is in a second term. why do you think the women -- the president needs to appoint more women? >> well, you know, the reality is study after study has shown that when women have a significant voice, whether it's a country or a state or a county or a town, that in fact what you see are more policies that actually help everyone. so more spending on education and health care lessen spending on weapon systems. that's kind of the big picture. and whether it's nurture or nature, who cares. the idea is that women really need to be at the table and we need to be at the table in large enough numbers that the perspective that women do bring to the table will be heard and will have an impact. >> on the surface, it's hard to disagree with that. but in practice i'm wondering if it's that easy. obviously the idea is to get the best person possible and i'm wondering if it's realistic when you factor in who actually wants to be in p

president obama's administration. which of the president's policies have helped the most in this? >> well, very crucial to this has been his decision to get congress to extend unemployment benefits, surprisingly. because people, when they have that money, are spending it back in the economy. remember, every 50th person you meet statistically only has food stamps today as income. and that's the result of these years of the republicans policies. so having unemployment and >> send thing unemployment benefits next year would be very important to continue to bring this number down and have businesses hire more people, because they have customers with money in their pockets to buy products and services. >> this is what could have happened if congress failed to pass the recovery act. the center on budget and policy priorities says that we've added almost $1 million more jobs because of the stimulus package. why are the republicans fighting stimulus spending now? why? is it they don't want to see president obama succeed or do they real hi believe that spending more money is not the right

like fox news, column after column acontributors attacking the obama administration never explaining that they were advising the romney campaign. there has to be transparency and if you're getting paid cash by a candidate or advising a campaign, you have to disclose that. >> jon huntsman criticized big players in the gop saying that just concerned were getting on fox. he said, i looked down the debate stage and half of them were probably on fox contracts at one point in their career. you do that, you write some books, go out and sell some more, you get a radio gig or tv gig out of it or something, you say to yourself, the barriers of entry to this game are pretty damn low. >> you not only write some books but in some cases they buy the books. these organizations and think tank. and they do this. they will buy books and actually give them away, therefore, driving up the sales of the books. they get on a list and people think that they have honestly sold books to individuals all over the country. look, they are not a journalistic be organization. and i know what people will

happened if the obama administration had intervened early by imposing a no-fly zone at very little cost and risk to the united states over syria, if assad had been gone 12 months ago fwe were now in the midst of a transitional process with an opposition that hadn't been radicallized by the influx from jordan, iraq, from elsewhere. instead, we're having not only the syrian meltdown with serious consequences, but hundreds of thousands of refugees in turkey, destabilization of jordan and increasing inability in lebanon and this is spilling out all over the region, paul. >> paul: what about the president's red lines on--bama' so-called, on syrian chemical weapons before he said, if they move these chemical weapons there will be consequences and now they've dropped the moved argument and they're now saying if he uses those chemical weapons. are we seeing a backtracking from the the united states? >> i think the backtracking to our default position which is to do nothing at all. i think it's justifiable that they may have moved these and we don't know why, maybe they moved them to get th